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The cranium and dentition of Khirtharia (Artiodactyla, Raoellidae): new data on a stem taxon to Cetacea
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Raoellid mammals are small artiodactyls from the Eocene of Asia, hypothesized to be closely related to stem Cetacea. Knowledge of the cranial and dental morphology of Raoellidae comes mostly from one species, Indohyus indirae. Here we describe new material of another raoellid genus, Khirtharia, based on material retrieved from the Kalakot area, Jammu and Kashmir. This new material, comprising an almost complete, lightly deformed cranium and a partial snout with associated partial mandible, greatly adds to our knowledge of raoellid morphology. It highlights the similarity of cranial characters with Indohyus, such as a long snout with raptorial incisors, a thick and narrow supraorbital region, a strong postorbital constriction, a triangular shaped braincase, and a thickened medial wall to the auditory bulla (involucrum). The new specimen is similar to Indohyus cranially but differs dentally in being more bunodont. The presence of these traits in two different raoellid genera suggests they may be present more broadly across Raoellidae. These characters are also observed in early cetaceans, highlighting the need to investigate their phylogenetic impact. Some cranial features support aquatic habits of members of this family.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA
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Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Crustacea, Decapoda), in the Scheldt estuary (Belgium): Isolated record or forerunner of a penaeid invasion?
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A single specimen of the penaeid prawn Penaeus aztecus (Ives, 1891) was recorded in 2018 in the brackish zone of the Scheldt estuary near Antwerp (Belgium). The presence of this species, native to the West Atlantic, might result either from ships' ballast water coming from transatlantic boat shipping, from illegal import or from a considerable expansion leap northwards from the Mediterranean Sea, where this species has recently established and now has rapidly expanding invasive populations.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Collecting information and identification of Oscarella from Cabo Frio, Brazil (Porifera, Homoscleromorpha, Oscarellidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
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Ant communities in recently restored dune grassland ecosystems in Belgium (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
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In the period 2000-2001 nature restoration projects drastically reshaped the Nature Reserve in Lombardsijde near the Ijzer Estuary in Flanders, Belgium. Dikes were constructed and new dune grasslands were installed. Seven years after the restoration the ant fauna of these newly created sites was compared with reference sites from foredunes, dune grasslands and grey dunes. Ants were collected with pitfall traps in 10 sample sites during 4 years. Our results showed that after 7 even 10 years of nature restoration, the ant fauna in the newly created sites still differs substantially from those of the reference sites. However, typical dune grassland ant species like Myrmica specioides, Myrmica sabuleti and Lasius psammophilus were already present at the newly created sites. Our data also suggests that it takes a longer period for characteristic dune grassland ants species to colonize and settle in these new environments than for other invertebrate groups like spiders and carabid beetles that were also collected and studied during the same project and reported before.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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First records of a supercolonial species of the Tapinoma nigerrimum complex in Belgium (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
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In the summer of 2014, a highly supercolonial Tapinoma was discovered in Ostend, Belgium. This was the first time a Tapinoma species with an invasive behaviour was discovered outdoors in Belgium. The ant belongs to the most widely distributed of four recognized species of the Tapinoma nigerrimum complex and is the only known species being invasive in areas north of the Mediterranean zone. In a first attempt to eliminate the species, a Demand 10CS insecticide solution treatment was initiated in 2015. First results illustrate that this treatment might be efficient, however a long-term monitoring of the site and its neighbourhood are suggested.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Secrets of de Selys Longchamps archives: one watercolour and two records of nineteenth century observations of the grasshopper species Psophus stridulus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus, 1758) in Belgium (Orthoptera: Acrididae)
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Next to voucher specimens in entomological collections, also historical archives and historical illustrations can contain valuable taxonomical as well as ecological and faunistic data. We report here faunistic data for two currently extinct Belgian grasshopper species from the year 1862, deduced from a letter accompanied by a watercolour. The letter and watercolour are stored in the archives of Edmond de Selys Longchamps at the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences (RBINS). Both the watercolour and the letter are discussed, focusing on the observations of Psophus stridulus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus, 1758) (Orthoptera) at Lanaken in 1862. Two voucher specimens of these observations and their original labels, that are stored in the RBINS collections, were studied. We can conclude that Egide Fologne was the first to observe P. stridulus in Belgium. He reported this in a letter to Edmond de Selys Longchamps and supplied the watercolour depicting the specimen he collected and donated to Selys for his collection.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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European Red List of Terrestrial Molluscs
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Integrative taxonomy of giant crested Eusirus in the Southern Ocean, including the description of a new species (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Eusiridae)
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Among Antarctic amphipods of the genus Eusirus, a highly distinctive clade of giant species is characterized by a dorsal, blade-shaped tooth on pereionites 5–7 and pleonites 1–3. This lineage, herein named ‘crested Eusirus’, includes two potential species complexes, the Eusirus perdentatus and Eusirus giganteus complexes, in addition to the more distinctive Eusirus propeperdentatus. Molecular phylogenies and statistical parsimony networks (COI, CytB and ITS2)of crested Eusirus are herein reconstructed. This study aims to formally revise species diversity within crested Eusirus by applying several species delimitation methods (Bayesian implementation of the Poisson tree processes model, general mixed Yule coalescent, multi-rate Poisson tree processes and automatic barcode gap discovery) on the resulting phylogenies. In addition, results from the DNA-based methods are benchmarked against a detailed morphological analysis of all available specimens of the E. perdentatus complex. Our results indicate that species diversity of crested Eusirus is underestimated. Overall, DNA-based methods suggest that the E. perdentatus complex is composed of three putative species and that the E. giganteus complex includes four or five putative species. The morphological analysis of available specimens from the E. perdentatus complex corroborates molecular results by identifying two differentiable species, the genuine E. perdentatus and a new species, herein described as Eusirus pontomedon sp. nov. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: alpha taxonomy – cryptic species – genetics – molecular systematics – phylogenetic systematics.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Recent Belgian records of the hornet rove-beetle Quedius (Velleius) dilatatus (Fabricius, 1787) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Note on some Ptomaphagus Hellwig, 1795 collected in the Jean Massart Botanical Garden (Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium) with a new record for the Belgian fauna (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Ptomaphagini)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
